Kiddie Trouble
by Chrissy Calavicci
Summary: Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm have a fight big surprise there! So Ben goes for a walk and runs into a very special little girl who is convinced she's a freak. Why does she think that? Read on! Rated T for some language.
1. I'm A Freak

**Kiddie Trouble**

**Chapter One**

**I'm A Freak**

**A/N: Okay, my first attempt at a "4" saga. Anyway, so it'll all be explained eventually. Abigail is my character. She's a girl from Boston who's running away, but her plan is put to a halt by Ben Grimm, a.k.a. The Thing. **

**Why on earth was she running away? Find out!**

Ben rolled his eyes and pounded on the wall for what seemed like the 500th time. This time, he was less careful about how hard he was pounding and ended up with a hole in his wall.

Johnny shut his music off and looked through the hole, "Got a problem big guy?"

Ben narrowed his eyes, "Yeah! You and your loud music! Didn't you hear me yelling and hitting the wall?"

"Well good one He-Man! Now I can't have any girls over!"

"They don't wanna come over anyway! They're afraid you'll spontaneously combust if you get too excited!"

Susan threw open the door to Johnny's room, "Will you two knock it-" She looked through the hole, "Ben, what did you do?"

"What-did-I-do?" He threw his hands in the air, "It wouldn't have happened if there was even just an ounce of maturity in that hormone crazed child over there!" He threw open his door and walked out, "I need some air. A lot of it."

"Ben-"

"Let him go sis." Johnny shook his head in disgust, "He's probably gunna go brood over at his girl's house."

Susan shot a disapproving look at her brother, "You need to learn when to quit!" She shouted, "You are SO lucky that Ben is nice to you!"

"Nice?" Johnny shouted, "Look at what he did to my wall!"

"But think about what he could have done!" Susan retorted, "If it were me, you'd be in an emergency room!"

"Is that a threat?"

Susan rolled her eyes and walked off. "You are _such_ a child!" She tried to catch up to Ben, but heard the door slam.

"He'll be back." Reed stated without even looking up from whatever he was working on, "You know Ben. He just needs to cool off."

"I'm-you're-" Susan stuttered in frustration, "ugh! I'm going to go get some air!"

"Sometimes I wonder if _I'm_ her real brother or not." Johnny came out of his room, "They're both so moody-"

"Nonsense," Reed muttered, "Ben's always moody and Susan's only moody-" He looked up to see a disgusted look on Johnny's face, "Never mind."

* * *

Ben walked down the street, ignoring the stares. _Let them look. You'd think they'd never seen a guy pissed off before._

Susan on the other hand, sat outside the Baxter building and watched as Ben turned the corner. She thought about chasing after him, but figured it was better if he just blew off steam. Besides, it was obvious Johnny wasn't ready to grow up and apologize yet. Normally, she wouldn't be worried, but the two seemed to be fighting a lot more often within the last two months. Reed seemed to not notice anything, but she felt like she was always trying to be the peacemaker.

"Sis?"

"Go away Johnny!" Susan stood and stormed off.

Ben sat on the bench and just stared at the grass. A couple of kids were running by, but when the caught a glance they immediately stopped what they were doing and went in the other direction.

"I'm famous and they're still afraid of me." He muttered.

"That's because they're losers." A small voice said softly.

Ben looked to his right. A small brunette girl who couldn't have been any older than ten was sitting right next to him staring at the grass. Ben wasn't quite sure what to say. It wasn't like anyone to just saunter up and talk to him. "And you're _not_ afraid of me?"

She looked up at him and smiled, "Why should I be? You're one of the good guys."

"Um…where's your parents?"

"They're at home."

He looked at her in disbelief. What kind of parents would let their little girl run around New York by herself? "Do they know where you are?"

Her big blue eyes welled up with tears, "No. And they're not gunna!"

"I think we should take you to the police station…" Ben stated.

"No! You can't! My parents will lock me up! They said they would!" she sobbed, "I had to leave!"

She looked as if she were about to sneeze, so Ben pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to her. He looked at her in shock when she sneezed and the handkerchief burst into flames! She saw the look on his face and started crying, "See! I'm a freak! All the kids are afraid of me! And you are too!"

Ben shook his head, "No!" He laughed, "I'm not afraid of you! I just wasn't expecting you to do any fireworks." He sighed, "Is that why your parents want to lock you up?"

She nodded, "They say I cause too many accidents, but I can't help it!"

"Look," Ben smiled, "I'm Ben, what's your name?"

She smiled at him, "I'm Abigail. But call me Abby."

"Well Abby," Ben sighed, "Looks like we're both in a rut. You can't go home because you're mad at your parents, I can't go home…well, I just don't want to."

"Wanna play?" Abigail asked.

Ben almost said that he didn't play, but, he figured he didn't want her burning down New York, so he laughed, "What did you have in mind?"

"Hopscotch!" She giggled.

Ben laughed some more, "Kiddo, I don't think the Earth can handle my hopscotch skills."

She looked a little disappointed, but grinned anyway, "Well-"

"There you are!" Ben groaned as he looked up at Susan.

"I didn't hear you follow me." he stated.

"Well," She sighed, "At first, I didn't, but then we called Alicia and when we found out you weren't there-"

"You left the matchstick at home?" Ben asked.

Susan nodded. Then she looked down at Abigail, "Hi." She smiled.

Ben grinned, "Susan, this is Abigail. She's got a little problem. Her parents want to send her away."

"Why?" Susan asked.

"Because I'm a freak!" Abigail cried.

Susan sat down on the other side of Abigail, "You're not a freak."

"Yes I am." Abigail argued, "Ask Ben! I just burned his handkerchief up!"

Ben frowned, "We can't let them treat her like a monster. She's just a kid. It's not like she's purposely burning things up-"

Susan frowned, "Well, we can't just _hide_ her from her parents, we'll get in trouble!"

"If you want to take me home, then I'm running away from you too!" Abigail shouted.

"How about this," Susan suggested, "We bring you back to the Baxter building, and you can call your parents. Where do you live honey?"

Abigail looked guilty, "Um…Boston…"

"BOSTON!" Ben and Susan both exclaimed at the same time. Ben shook his head, "How on EARTH did you get here? AND WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN SLEEPING?"

Abigail sighed, "Well, it seems that if you have money, the cabbies don't care. And I've been hanging in the park for the last couple of days."

"You look like it too." Susan scolded.

Ben put his hand up, "Sue, come on. She's been through enough. Let's get her home so she can call her parents and they can get her."

"NO!" Abigail shouted as she began to run.

Ben grabbed her arm, "Kid! Just listen! We'll help you out okay?"

She stopped and looked at him, "Promise?"

"Promise," Susan smiled, then she turned back to Ben, "This does mean that you're going to have to come home too."

Ben shrugged, "I guess if I must, I must."

"No fight?"

"And what kind of example would I be setting?"

**A/N: I seriously hope you like it so far! So it seems easy, get the kid a warm bed, and a phone call and she'll be gone in the morning right? We'll see!**


	2. I have Friends!

**A/N: Hey gang! I'm back again with chapter two! Seems our littlest hero is getting mighty attached to Ben. What is the whole story behind her family?**

**Kiddie Trouble**

**Chapter Two**

**My New Friends!**

"Look who's back!" Johnny laughed as he turned the television off. His feet were propped up on the coffee table and he looked as if he were about to sink in the couch.

"That's MY spot." Ben narrowed his eyes, "don't you go messing it up."

Susan entered the room a couple minutes later with Abigail who didn't look too happy when she came in the door.

"What did you tell her Sue?" Ben asked.

"I told her to give me her backpack, so I could wash her clothes." Susan stated, "And that she had to take a shower." Susan left the room to show Abigail around.

"Who's the kid?" Johnny asked.

"Her name's Abigail." Ben stated as he shoved Johnny out of his spot and sat down, "Found her at the park. Turns out, she ran away from home."

"Oh." Johnny stated. He didn't want to press the issue any further as Ben didn't look like he really wanted to talk to Johnny anyway.

About an hour later, Abigail came back into the living room, this time clean. Ben looked up, "Hey kid, thought we lost ya."

Abigail sat next to Ben, "You're not going to make me call my parents still are you?" she asked.

"That's kinda how it goes kid." Ben shrugged.

"But I fit in here!" She protested.

Johnny looked up, "How could you possibly fit in here?"

Abigail looked up at Ben who just laughed, "Go ahead kid, show 'im what you've got."

She sat for a minute and then looked at Johnny. "Lookit this." She smiled as she snapped her fingers. Just like a Zippo lighter, a tiny flame floated above her thumb and forefinger.

"Whoa!" Johnny laughed, "Hey! Let her stay! I'll adopt her! She can be 'Flame Girl'!"

Ben frowned, "NO! You're irresponsible! I found her!"

"Ha! But she's LIKE me!"

"I'm _saying_ Zippo, that she's not a pet! Her parents are probably worried sick!"

"I AM TIRED OF BEING A REFEREE!" Susan shouted, "Can't you guys just knock it off for once?" She looked at both Johnny and Ben, "Look, we want her parents to know she's safe, but we don't want them to send her away-"

"So," Reed joined the conversation, "We teach her."

"Aw," Ben stated, "and here, I thought you didn't realize we existed."

Reed shot him a dirty look. "Here's what we do, we'll call her parents and let them know she's okay, I mean, by the way you all have been talking, it sounds as if she's been gone at least a couple days."

"Four days." Abigail said.

"Okay," Reed smiled, "Four days. I'm sure we can think of something."

"I know all about this fire stuff." Johnny gave a smug look to Ben.

"But I wanna stay with Ben!" Abigail stomped her foot down.

Everyone looked over at her in shock. "Why?" Ben asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Because." She mumbled, tears coming to her eyes, "He's the first person ever to tell me I'm not a freak."

Johnny snorted and Susanflicked his ear. Ben couldn't help but feel sorry for the kid, "I'm sure your parents don't think that."

Abigail shook her head, "They've never said it to my face…but I hear them. Daddy yells at Mommy at night. Always blaming her, saying it's my fault I'm a freak, and why didn't she tell him that … um… a mutant…yeah…a mutant was her daddy." She sighed.

"And your mom?" Susan asked.

"She ignores me too. I always over hear her on the phone with different people. All of them want to take me away."

"That's wrong!" Johnny stood up and burst into flames. Ben rolled his eyes and threw a glass of water at him. "What?" He said after he extinguished himself.

"How many times do we have to tell you not to do that in the house?" Ben growled.

Abigail laughed, "You guys are funny."

Susan took her by the hand, "Come on, we at least have to call your parents."

"Please no." Abigail sniffled.

"Not yet." Johnny begged, "Come on, you heard all that stuff her dad said. Let's just work with her first."

Susan looked at Ben who shook his head, "Sue's right, she's gotta call." He sighed when Abigail pouted, "Look, just have Sue talk to your mom. Maybe she can buy you some time."

Once Susan and Abigail had left the room, Ben sighed, "Now this only makes me wonder who she's related to and whether or not they're a threat."

Johnny snickered, "Dude, if you stole my kid, I'd definitely be a threat."

Ben rolled his eyes, "You're a threat to humanity."

Reed shook his head silently and went back to whatever it is he was working on. Ben and Johnny both stood and ran to the kitchen when they heard Susan shout, "Ben! Johnny!"

"What's wrong?" Ben asked.

"Tell them what you did." Susan scolded.

Abigail looked at her feet. Susan grumbled and dialed the number again, and then shoved the phone at Ben. His eyes grew wider as the message played on:

"_Hi! You've reached the Jordan residence. We're on vacation in California right now, but leave a message and we'll be back with you in a couple weeks!"_

"First," Ben said calmly, "If they stay on vacation while they're daughter is missing, they're stupid. Second, why would they tell the world they're not at home. Third, how do we get a hold of them now?"

Johnny looked at Ben, "They're on vacation?"

"Yeah." Ben looked at Abigail, "So, tell us the whole story."

Abigail continued to look at her feet, "Well, we were going to take a bus to California. So, while my parents were boarding, I took the money that my grandpa gave me and gave them the slip."

"Did your grandfather put you up to this?" Susan asked.

Abigail shook her head, "I thought of it myself. I actually meant to go to Canada, but only had enough money to get to New York."

"Why Canada?" Johnny asked.

"My grandpa is there."

"So," Ben said as calmly as he could, "How were you expecting to survive the mean streets of New York?"

She shrugged, "I wasn't expecting to. But I could keep myself warm at least." She started crying, "Do you all hate me now?"

"No." Susan knelt down, "But it would have been nice for you to tell us the whole truth."

She nodded, "So now what are you going to do?"

"Well…" Ben sighed, "The police are probably our best option now-"

"No!" Susan shook her head, "If we turn her into the police we'll have no idea what happens to her. Don't you want to make sure she's okay?"

Ben frowned, "Of course, but won't that get _us _in trouble?"

"Only if we go advertising it!" Johnny shouted.


	3. Dark Secrets Revealed

**Chapter 3**

**Dark Secrets Revealed?**

"Greg…she was…why can't we…" Megan Jordan stammered once they'd finally reached their destination.

Greg Jordan was much less worried about the disappearance of their oldest daughter. He was the one who had convinced Megan that they could call the police once they were in California. "Look," He stated, "It cost us too much to get out here. Do you think I'm going to fork out another load of cash to cancel our reservations and get back?"

"She's probably scared." Megan cried, "We have to go find her."

"She could be anywhere." He said coldly, "She's not exactly new at this running off thing."

"But she could get hurt." she said, "maybe she wouldn't run off if you'd treat her like a human being."

"She's a freak!" he shouted, "It's better we're rid of her anyway."

"How could you say that?"

"You've even said it yourself! We need to send her away!"

"I didn't mean get rid of her! There are plenty of places-"

"That cost plenty of money." Greg glared at his wife, "It's over now. No more worrying that the house is going to burn down at night."

* * *

Ben looked over at Abigail who was sleeping happily on the couch. He smiled once he was sure she was really sleeping. If he had to watch one more episode of Power Puff Girls, he would have gone clinically insane. He picked up the remote that sat innocently on the couch. Carefully, he flipped the channel. 

"Hey!" Abigail sat up, "I was watching that!"

Ben sighed, "Come on Abby, it's late, you should be sleeping."

"Yeah!" Johnny jumped over the back of the couch, snatching the remote from Ben, "Time for the big kids to watch their shows."

Ben groaned as he watched Johnny change it to some extreme sporting event. "Okay, I'm going to bed. It's obvious I'm not going to win this one." He stood and left for his room.

"Is he always that cranky?" Abigail whispered once he left.

Johnny laughed, "Kid, you have _no_ idea."

The two were sharing a laugh when Reed walked by, "You know Susan's going to throw a fit if she's still awake."

"She's not her mommy." Johnny laughed.

"But we're responsible for her until we can get her home-" Reed began to scold.

"Go study something dude." Johnny rolled his eyes, "The kid's fine, I'll take care of her." Once he saw the look in Reed's eyes he wished he could take the words back, "Dude, she's ten."

"But think about what we could find out!"

Johnny shook his head, "Ben won't be happy."

Reed frowned, "But Ben isn't awake."

"Don't make me wake up the big guy." Johnny threatened. "I know we fight a lot, but this time, I'm takin' his side."

"Don't you want to find out what makes you tick?" Reed looked at Abigail.

Johnny scowled, "Dude…"

Abigail shook her head, "If you mean you want to use all sorts of machines to figure out where the fire comes from-"

"What are you talkin' about?" Ben grumbled, "I heard something about tickin' and machines."

Johnny gave Reed a smug look. Reed turned to his friend, "We can find out what makes her tick!"

Before Ben could even speak, Abigail shouted, "NO! No more tests! No more big machines that make me sick!"

"Were you going to treat her like one of your projects?" Ben growled.

"Told ya so." Johnny stuck his tongue out.

* * *

Megan listened from the bedroom as her husband checked the days messages that were forwarded from their home phone. She gasped when she heard that someone had found their daughter. 

"_Hi. This is Susan Storm. A friend of mine found your daughter wandering around New York. We'd like you to know that she's safe and ask for you to call us so we can return her to you. The number is 600-555-7681."_

Megan jotted down the number quickly and hid it in her daughter Allison's diaper bag. Greg must have sensed this because as soon as the message finished she heard him run to her. He grabbed her by the arm and jerked her, "Don't you even think about it."

"Susan Storm you idiot!" She shouted, "Fantastic Four! They have our daughter!"

"Good! They can keep her!" Greg shouted back. He shoved his hand into Allison's diaper bag and grabbed his wife's cell phone. She watched in horror as he crushed it and threw it on the ground, "Don't get any ideas."

* * *

Ben watched as Johnny tried to teach Abigail the finer points of "Burning Down The House". Of course, Johnny claimed he was teaching her how to control her powers. Once again however, Johnny was distracted when one of his many girlfriends called. 

"This is never going to work." Abigail frowned.

Ben laughed, "C'mere kid." She sat up next to him on the couch, "Why don't you use that power of yours to interrupt his phone call?"

"You want me to burn the phone?"

"Be creative." He smiled, "Make me laugh."

Abigail walked up to the chair Johnny sat on. She looked back at Ben who gave her a thumbs up. She set the chair on fire and watched as Johnny shot up in flames. The phone melted out of his hand.

"Flame off!" He shouted as Abigail ran giggling for protection.

"Hey." Ben shrugged, "The kid's got spunk."

Johnny narrowed his eyes, "Well SPUNK THIS!"

He shot a fireball towards the girl, who deflected it and then stood up. Ben ducked behind the couch as her eyes sparked and her hair went ablaze, "Bring it!" She laughed as she shot fireballs back.

"Flame on!" Johnny and Abigail taunted each other with flames until Susan walked in the room.

"Um." Ben cleared his throat, "Good lesson!" He shouted loud enough for the fireballs to hear.

"Flame off." Johnny sat down on the couch.

Abigail had stopped laughing. They watched as she shook her hand that wouldn't go out. "I said flame off! Johnny! It doesn't work!" She flailed her arms and small flames went around the room. Ben looked for a body of water, but couldn't find anything.

"Hey!" Johnny shouted, "The bath water's running!"

"Hey!" Susan shouted as Ben grabbed Abigail and dunked her in the water. She sputtered as she watched the flames go out. Susan walked into the bathroom, "So much for a bath."

"You alright kid?" Ben asked.

"Sorry." She sobbed.

"It's not your fault girlie." Johnny grinned, "it took me awhile too."

"Yeah," Susan shot Ben and Johnny a dirty look, "We weren't _playing_ with fire were we?"

Ben and Johnny looked at each other. Ben had a chance to make Johnny look bad, Johnny had a chance to make Ben look bad, but for some odd reason, they both just shook their heads.

"We were just trying to teach her some battle stuff." Johnny shrugged.

Ben just played along, "Yeah, I was teachin' her techniques and he was teachin' her how to use those techniques and throw fire-"

"Inside?"

"Not one of our best ideas…" Johnny looked at his feet.

"Didjya get that fire in the living room?" Ben asked. Johnny nodded. Susan shook her head, knowing that the two were lying like there was no tomorrow. She was about to scold them, but was interrupted by the phone ringing.

"You're lucky we have more than one phone around here…Ben." She said smugly as if she'd known all along how the fire broke out in the first place.

**A/N: Yeah, had to add a little playfulness in there while I could. I fear things may change very soon!**


	4. The Call

**A/N: OMG! I'm FINALLY BACK! And updating! I've been laying low for awhile. Mostly due to writers block. But I've been very irriated about my unfinished stories! So, you might have to go back and refresh your memory before you dive into this one. :)**

**Chapter Four**

**The Call**

Susan disappeared for a few minutes with the phone. "Who do you think she's talking to?" Ben asked.

Johnny shrugged, "It can't be Reed, he's eating something."

They didn't have time to listen by the door as Susan came back out, "That was Abby's mother."

"Am I in trouble?" Abigail asked.

"No." Susan sighed.

"What's the matter Suzy?" Ben asked.

Susan looked at Ben, then Johnny and then down at Abby before she said anything, "Johnny, it's a good time for lunch don't you think?"

Ben frowned. If Susan was suggesting lunch because she didn't want Abigail to hear what she had to say, then it had to be bad news. After a short protest from both Abigail and Johnny, the two left the room. Ben figured they'd probably try to listen in anyway. "Okay," he finally said, "What's wrong?"

"Well," Susan sat down and Ben did the same, "that was her on the phone. She thanked us for finding Abby and asked if we could meet her somewhere."

"So what's the problem with that?" Ben shrugged.

"She was whispering and rushing." Susan stated, "I asked if everything was okay and she hung up on me."

"That just says everything is not okay." Ben said, "So, how much do you want to make a bet that dad is a real winner?"

"Yeah," she rolled her eyes, "Sounds like a real father of the year type."

"Hey," Johnny stepped back into the room, "I know it's not really our place to get hooked up in these domestic squabbles, but I think there's a real potential for disaster here if we don't get Abby somewhere safe."

"This isn't the type of thing the police could handle." Ben shrugged, "or even begin to understand. Sure, they could put the wife and kid in a safe house, but what about Abby? Her mom isn't going to know how to handle her."

"I'm thinking maybe X-Men." Johnny suggested, "It kinda sucks, because it's only Abby who's going, but mom can go live with grandpa and Abby can go to a school specifically designed to help her out."

"How much do you think Grandpa knows about Abby's powers?" Susan asked, "She said she got the money from him."

"Maybe Grandpa is a mutant." Johnny stated.

"Are you even watching Abby?" Ben asked.

"She's sitting at the table talking to Reed." Johnny said, "She's fine."

"Fine maybe," Ben laughed, "Bored to death definitely."

"How well does Abby know Grandpa?" Susan rolled her eyes, trying to ignore the jabs at her boyfriend.

"Let's find out." Johnny stated as he went to go get Abby.

Ben looked back at Susan, "so, did you trace the number?"

"I have the number," she answered, "I'll have Reed trace it. Maybe we can get mom out of there before dad finds out."

A few minutes later, the plan was in action. Reed and Susan were looking up the number to see if they could track it. Seeing as Abigail's mom was connected through 411, it was proving to be difficult as the number was jumbled and every time they called, they were connected with 411.

Ben and Johnny began questioning Abigail on her grandfather. It turned out that she didn't know much about him at all. In fact, she never really met him. He just seemed to take care of her, her mother and her sister from afar.

Johnny's jaw dropped, "you've got a sister?"

"You never mentioned that before." Ben said.

"She's normal." Abigail stated, "I know because dad likes her more."

"Oh geez." Johnny sighed, "I'll go tell Reed so at least they know it's a two person rescue." He stopped in the doorway, "can we call Dr. Doom or something? This is too easy."

"Don't jinx it." Ben grumbled.

* * *

"A sister?" Susan asked. 

"Apparently," Johnny shrugged, "She's normal."

"Well," Reed sighed, "We finally got a trace on the number. Hopefully they're still there. Susan and I are going to take the Fantasticar down to California and see if we can find Abby's mom and sister. We're going to bring them back here and go from there."

"Did you find out anything about Grandpa?" Susan asked.

"She doesn't know anything." Johnny stated.

"Correction." Ben walked in, "remember how she said Grandpa sent her money? I've got the envelope."

Johnny scowled, "Great going slick. You did that on purpose so I'd look like an idiot."

"I don't have to do anything special to make you look like an idiot." Ben grinned, "You do a good enough job on your own."

Reed rolled his eyes, "Fine, Johnny, help Ben see if you can get a number for the address. We might be making a trip into Canada."

"Why can't we just go to Canada now?" Johnny asked.

"Too risky." Susan shook her head, "Let's get her mom and sister back here and wait until we get some light on the subject. We might find out that Grandpa isn't the best choice."

"So basically," Johnny sighed, "You're indirectly asking me and Ben to baby-sit."

"We got the easy part." Ben laughed, "I don't know why you're so mad about it."

_I'm tired of easy._ Johnny thought, _I'm ready for some action!_

"I see it in your eyes." Ben nodded, "that's why you can't adopt her and call her Flame Girl." He laughed.

"People who read minds are freaky." Johnny scowled.

"He's not reading your mind Johnny," Susan stated as she grabbed some things they needed for the trip, "You're an open book. If you need us, you know how to get a hold of us." Reed and Susan left.

"I don't do diapers!" Johnny shouted after them.

**Yeah, I'm gunna leave you with that tonight. I am now planning on my search and rescue and then I'm going to work out some kinks, then I should finish this up and my other stories as well!**


	5. Search And Rescue

**A/N: I'm back with another chapter. Don't know why, it's been so long I don't know who's reading this still! Anyway, I added some more playfulness and a bit of confusion. I want to wrap this up soon, so I'll unconfuse you (and myself) in the next couple chapters!**

**Chapter Five**

**Search and Rescue**

Reed and Susan parked a couple blocks away from where the phone call was traced. "I don't think it will help," Susan laughed, "That car is kind of obvious."

"Don't worry Sue." Reed shook his head, "These are Californian's we're talking about."

"So?"

"So, how likely is it that they know who we are? They don't keep up with the East Coast out here."

"You _do _remember the Broadway incident don't you?" Susan asked.

"Which one?" Reed shrugged.

"You don't remember that girl that practically bowled Ben over because she was in a rush to see Avenue Q?"

Reed grinned, "I remember that. It was like one hundred pounds meeting a solid brick wall in a head on collision."

Susan laughed, "It didn't even phase her remember? She stepped back, gave him a dirty look and then I think she barely made it before the door closed."

"She was from California?"

"Yeah," Susan stated, "you didn't see her shirt? Better yet, did you hear her accent? It all screamed California."

"Oh."

"I'm just saying, they're not as out of the loop as you think Reed."

"Okay," Reed stopped suddenly, "That's the building. Maybe we should find out if she's alone. We don't exactly know what this guy looks like and if he somehow passes us and recognizes us, he's probably going to take it out on her."

"Good point." Susan said, "Let's go over there and give her a call. If he answers, then we'll have to be sneaky about it."

"I take it you really don't want to deal with him." Reed said.

"Not if I don't have to." Susan said, "Give her a call."

Reed dialed the number and Susan watched as he frowned, "Um yes sir, this is Joe at the reception desk. We seem to be having a problem with your card and need you to come downstairs-" Susan flinched when she heard the man shouting on the other end. Reed pulled the phone away from his ear, "I'm very sorry about this sir; if you could just come downstairs we can take care of this situation so you can continue your vacation without any more hassles." The other phone slammed down and Reed shook his head.

"Nice thinking." Susan smiled.

"Look," Reed sighed, "we don't have enough time. You need to get up there and get them out fast. I'll bring the car around to the window."

Susan turned invisible and went into the hotel. She ran up the stairs hoping to catch an open door as she wasn't sure Abigail's mom would answer the knock. Fortunately, she made it to the hall as he was stepping out. Before he slammed the door, she slipped in. Staying invisible, just in case he forgot something and walked back in, she looked around the hotel. She heard the car hovering by the window and knew she had to hurry up.

"Hello?" She called as she slowly came back into view. Part of her was wondering if anyone was even in the room, "It's me Susan Storm. You called me?" After no one answered, she spoke again, "We don't have much time, so if you're here, you'd better hurry up and come out." She looked around some more.

"Sorry." Megan stepped out of the bathroom, Allison in one arm, "I was expecting your bodyguard to come barreling through the doors. Is he here? My husband is pretty tough."

Susan almost laughed, but didn't, "Ben's not my bodyguard and don't worry, we're not going to have a problem with your husband. We have to get to the window. Reed's waiting for us." She went over to the window and opened it and helped Megan and Allison in. She heard the hotel door open as she got into the car and they sped off.

* * *

Ben looked out to see that Abigail was still watching television, then, he went back into the kitchen to talk to Johnny. "Reed just called, they're on their way back with Megan and Allison."

"Who?" Johnny asked.

Ben rolled his eyes, "Her mom and sister you idiot."

"Oh." Johnny nodded, "So now what?"

"Now we wait." Ben shrugged.

The two of them heard a scream in the other room, "I'm not waiting." Johnny rushed in to see that Abigail was no longer there, "I thought they couldn't break into this place!" He shouted.

"Where did she go?" Ben ran towards a broken window and saw Doctor Doom flying off in the distance, "I hate technology." Ben grumbled. He watched as Abigail struggled with her captor until finally she broke free, only to be caught in a freefall to the cement below.

"Johnny!" Ben shouted, "She can't fly!"

Without another thought, Johnny was out the window. He grabbed Abigail and brought her back safely.

"He'll come back." Ben frowned. "You _had_ to say something didn't you?"

Johnny shrugged, "Sorry." Then he knelt down next to Abigail, "Are you alright kiddo?"

"I'm fine." She nodded.

Ben stared out the window, "I don't know if he's going to make another pass or if he's gonna wait."

"What does he want with Abby?" Johnny asked.

"What does who want with Abby?" Susan walked into the room, "What the hell happened in here?"

Johnny stood up and looked into the next room. Megan and Allison were sitting on the couch and Reed seemed to be explaining something to them, "Why don't you go see your mom kiddo."

"Ben?" Susan asked once Abigail had left the room.

"Hothead here had to open his big mouth. That's what happened." Ben grumbled.

"Not true! It's a complete coincidence!"

"What?" Susan shouted.

"Our friend Doom paid us a visit which resulted in Abby taking a freefall." Ben stated.

"Don't tell her mom." Johnny shook his head, "She'll flip."

"I'm going to flip!" Susan exclaimed, "Weren't you two watching her?"

"It's not like that Suzy!" Ben explained, "We turned our backs for one second."

"In fact," Johnny grinned, "It's Reed's fault, he's the one that called us."

"Shut up Johnny."

"Everyone's okay," Ben said, "That's all that matters. Now that we're all together, we can keep a lookout for Doom if he decides to come back. What did you learn from her mom?"

"Apparently," Susan sighed, "Dad has always been a jerk and it only got worse when they found out Abigail had powers."

"What about Grandpa?" Johnny asked.

"Well, Grandpa looks out after them because he has powers."

"So it's genetics." Ben shrugged, "Nothin' new there."

"Not quite." Susan said, "Because Abigail's mom is adopted."

"This is confusing." Johnny shook his head, "you're telling me that it's just a fluke this kid has powers? Who _is _Grandpa anyway?"

"Nobody we know." She stated, "He kind of lays low. It's a long story. Did you guys get his number? Her husband destroyed her cell phone and we still need to call him."

"Ben's got it." Johnny pointed at Ben.

**There you go. Hope you like. We'll probably be meeting Grandpa and maybe Dad in the next chapter. Doom will most likely be back because I'm sure he's got something sinister planned.**


	6. Doctor Doom?

**A/N: Okay guys, it's not as long or as exciting today. In fact, I just kind of cut it short. I've had a really bad day and I just can't seem to get through this chapter even though the writing is sort of theraputic. So, think of this as Chapter Six Part One. **

**Chapter Six**

**Doctor Doom**

Susan handed Megan the phone and took her to the kitchen so she could make the phone call. Reed took the opportunity to get caught up on what had happened while they were gone.

"I heard something about Doctor Doom and free falling." Reed said in a hushed voice.

"It's all Ben's fault." Johnny passed the buck.

Ben raised his hand and made an "I'm gonna smack you" motion. Even though Johnny knew Ben wouldn't really rearrange his face, he flinched. "I don't know what Doom wants, but I'm surprised he didn't put up more of a fight."

"Maybe he's just picking his battles." Reed shrugged.

"Yeah," Johnny laughed, "He took one look at Ben and freaked."

Ben rolled his eyes, "I think Reed is right and that you're a moron."

"You guys," Reed sighed, "I'm serious. Maybe he wasn't aware how strong she was."

"She's not that strong." Johnny asked.

"I don't mean super human strong." Reed scowled.

"Kids have a self-defense mechanism," Ben stated in a condescending tone, "You see, when bad people try to take them, they get an adrenaline rush and it gives them what they need to escape, especially when their kidnapper is busy trying to concentrate on something else, like driving that crazy contraption Doom flew in here on."

Johnny made a face at Ben, "I think I got that."

"So," Reed continued, ignoring their bickering, "What is so special about this kid that Doom wants?"

"She's a sweet kid." Ben frowned, "I don't know why anyone would want to hurt her."

"Maybe not hurt her," Reed said, "But maybe there's something else we don't know."

"And," Johnny waved his finger like he had a brilliant idea, "This _is_ Doom we're talking about. He doesn't care who he hurts. Young, old, innocent or evil. As long as you're breathing, it's open season."

"Okay guys," Susan walked in on the pow-wow, "We don't really understand the Doom factor, but we probably have an abusive dad to deal with."

"That's no problem." Ben laughed as he punched his fist into the palm of his other hand.

"You can't toss around civilian's Ben." Johnny mocked the tone Susan used when she mothered him.

"Enough!" Susan hissed, "Let's just get settled. If they see us bickering, they're going to wonder about our ability to protect them."

"Sue's right." Reed tried to sound as if he were the voice of reason, "Let's just make sure they're comfortable for now."

Everyone filed out of the room, but Ben stopped and pushed his finger into Reed's face, "no experiments," he warned.

* * *

Susan made sure the girls had a place to sleep for the night. Once Abigail and Allison were asleep, she went back to where Megan was sitting. Reed looked as if he wanted to start asking questions, but was waiting for her to return. Ben and Johnny just sat there quietly as if they were waiting for something bad to happen.

"Come on," Susan smiled, "I know things look bad right now, but we've bought ourselves a few moments of peace. The kids are sleeping and everyone's safe."

"I guess you want to know more about Abby." Megan said, "I don't know what's wrong with her-"

"Wait a minute," Ben cut in, "There ain't nothin' wrong with that kid." Everyone stared at him, "you wanna see someone with somethin' wrong with them? Take a good look at Johnny over here."

"Hey!" Johnny smacked Ben on the shoulder, "ow!" Susan rolled her eyes.

"That's not how I meant it." Megan shook her head, "I'm sorry. It's just that, I never knew my dad had powers. He never said anything until I started telling him about Abby."

"What about her father?" Reed asked.

"He's always been a little rough around the edges," she shrugged as if she was trying to justify his actions, "But when we found out about Abby, he became cold. He was horrible to her. Especially if he noticed I was paying extra attention to her. I didn't know what else to do, so I just tried to treat her like a normal kid. Then, my father started sending us money. I've stashed away what he sent me, but I gave Abby her money. I don't know if he intended for her to run off, but I was planning to use my savings to disappear with the girls. Then she disappeared and Greg refused to do anything about it."

_How do you tell a worried mother that her crazy husband is the least of her problems?_ Ben wondered as his thoughts turned back to Dr. Doom. He looked towards the room, almost half afraid the girls would both be gone.

"Are you alright Ben?" Susan asked.

"I was just…" He frowned, not wanting to say too much, "thinking about earlier."

"Don't worry Ben." Reed's famous last words.

**Well, just sort of getting a background on Megan and her oh so loveable husband. Personally? I'm with Ben. I can take down people bigger than me, so it should be cake for him. Right? I promise more tomorrow. :)**


	7. What?

**A/N: Well, I must thank one of my readers for pointing out a continuity error. I was telling my friend last night that I'll never complain about J.K. Rowling and continuity errors again. LOL. I'm not going to point out what it was, just that I've fixed it and if you haven't noticed it, don't worry about it. :) Also, the evil plot bunnies are going, "Hey, let's change everything mid-story!" So, yeah. This is weird.**

**Chapter Seven**

**What?**

Reed made sure that everyone was loaded up and strapped in. Megan looked at Susan, "It only took two of you to rescue us, so why is everyone coming along for this trip?"

_Oh, I don't know._ Johnny thought, _maybe because the world's most psychotic villain is after your kid?_

Susan looked at Ben, "it's because Ben got so attached. He wanted to make sure Abby was safe."

Ben shut his eyes and tried not to roll them. While it was true he'd become attached, that was still the worst lie Susan had ever come up with.

"Ben found me." Abigail explained, "He and Johnny took care of me while I was here."

Megan didn't know whether to be relieved or worried, "That's nice."

"They're really fun, but Ben can't play hopscotch." Abigail shrugged, "He said that the world wasn't ready for his mad hopscotch skills."

"I didn't say _mad_ hopscotch skills," Ben laughed, "That's something Johnny would say."

For most of the trip, Abigail kept the chatterbox running. Her poor mother looked like she was going to have a nervous breakdown. When the girl stopped talking, Megan laughed, "I knew I should have had boys." Abigail just giggled.

Reed parked the Fantasticar near the residence. "Your dad really does keep a low profile." He stated.

"I grew up here," Megan said, "I remember my childhood being pretty normal. I was almost five when I was adopted, but I never felt like I was adopted. My parents were wonderful."

"Your father sounded pleased when you asked him if you could come home," Susan commented, "You'll probably be safe here."

"That's an excellent theory." A figure moved through the trees.

"Doom." Ben grumbled.

"That doesn't sound like him." Reed put his arm in front of his friend as if to hold him back.

"I figured you might come here." The voice came closer until the man stepped out into the clearing.

"Greg?" Megan asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I knew you'd come here." He stated, "I knew that's why you disappeared."

"What have you done to my father?" Megan made a dash for the door, only to be pushed to the ground.

"That's it." Ben growled as he started to charge towards the man.

"Ben no!" Susan shouted.

Ben had no intention of listening, he brought his fist towards the man's face and everyone shut their eyes as they heard the sickening crunch of solid rock hitting flesh. When there were no screams of pain, Reed opened his eyes and saw Ben and Greg in a stalemate. Greg was holding Ben's fist as if it were nothing.

"Sue," he whispered, "This can't be good."

Susan opened her eyes and looked on in shock. Johnny was next to open his eyes, "Oh shit." He muttered.

"Hey!" Abigail spoke up, "You leave my friend alone!" Her hair lit up on fire.

"Abby," Johnny shook his head, "no." He grabbed her before she could walk off.

"Go ahead," Greg laughed as he raised his free hand. The leaves on the trees rustled in the wind, "You send flames at me and I'll make sure this whole house burns down."

"Chill Abby." Johnny stated. Abigail immediately flamed off.

Ben figured it was pointless to keep in the stalemate, so he backed off, only to get the wind knocked out of him. He flew back and hit a tree, almost breaking it in half.

Susan was next to give it a try, she quickly became invisible and tried to use her force field to fly over Greg. However, he just waived both his hands and the wind knocked her out of the air and sent her hurtling towards Ben.

"Sorry 'bout the not so soft landing Suzy." Ben muttered.

"I don't get it." Reed spoke up, "Obviously, Abby's powers are genetic, and obviously, it's from your side."

"So?" Greg shrugged.

"So why would you push her away?"

"It's actually quite simple Reed." Reed and Johnny turned around to see Dr. Doom standing behind him, "You see, Greg here is pretty powerful and he's probably got some evil plan cooked up. He thinks little Abby here will outshine him, or maybe even try to stop him."

Ben helped Susan up and then stood up himself, "Well maybe she wouldn't try to stop him if he was a nice guy!"

Megan shook her head, "You have powers?"

"There's just one thing our friend here overlooked," Dr. Doom continued, "But I haven't. See, if _he _is pretty powerful-"

"What makes you think he's powerful?" Johnny asked, "Maybe he's just got wimpy powers."

"Oh please," Doom laughed, "He knocked Ben down. Like I was saying, if he is pretty powerful, then his kid must be even better, why else would he want her out of the way?"

"So why didn't you just come back for her at the building?" Johnny asked, "I mean, all you had to do was turn around and grab her again."

"This isn't a press conference," Doom walked towards the girl, "I'm taking what I came for."

"I don't think so." Ben moved over to protect Abigail.

It was almost as if Doom didn't even notice that Ben was there. He sent a jolt of electricity which knocked everyone off their feet. Then, he grabbed Abigail and took off. Once Ben had gotten to his feet, he started after Doom, but he realized he was too late. The next thing he did was go after Greg, who was still lying on the ground. Ben grabbed the color of Greg's shirt and lifted him up, "this is all your fault. I should kill you right now."

"Oh God!" Susan looked around, "Where's the baby?"

Megan seemed to be having a hard time focusing, but the words hit her right in the heart, "Allie?" She called. Reed rushed over to make sure she didn't try to get up while Susan looked for Allison.

"Next time, can we _please_ have a back up plan?" Johnny shouted in fear and frustration, "I'm getting tired of this whole 'taken by surprise' thing! I mean dammit! We know Abby's dad and Dr. Doom are both insane, so we _should _have had a back up plan!"

Reed looked over to see Ben practically strangling Greg. "You shouldn't do that Ben."

"Shouldn't maybe, doesn't mean I won't." Ben grumbled.

"Ben we've got to get Abby!" Johnny shouted.

Ben glared at Greg and slowly lowered him, "you'd better not try anything," he warned, "I don't know what you've got planned, but it ain't gonna happen. You get your ass outta here and you never come back. I don't ever want to see you or hear your name again."

Greg looked as if he were about to pee his pants. When his feet touched the ground he nodded in agreement. Once Ben let go, Greg took off.

"You just let him go!"

"We'll meet again." Ben stated, "Trust me, he's not as scared as he's pretending to be."

"Johnny," Reed said sternly, "help Susan find Allie, Ben, go see if their grandfather is okay. We're going to need some help with this. As soon as everyone's rounded up, we're calling the X-Men."

**A/N: My friend and I were wondering which X-Men to use. But, I think we've got that fixed, so don't worry, I'm not waiting another year for the next chapter! **

**The weird thing about this story is that I didn't have it all planned from start to finish. Most of my stories are all planned out before I even write them. So, it's just proving difficult to write. I've been trying to plan it out, but every time I write, it changes. So planning is proving to be futile!**

**Oh yeah, the reason Greg isn't dead? He's coming back. I figured it would just be WAY too easy to kill him off. Besides, I need to figure out what's up with him too. World domination or just a mutant menace? Either way, I HAVE figured out why Doom wants this kid. But yeah, you'll have to wait for the next chapter on that one. :)**


	8. Give And Take

**A/N: Hmmm...I think I've got somewhat of an ending, but there's still more battle. I haven't excersised my full force of heroes. We'll get there.**

**Chapter Eight**

**Give and Take**

Abigail woke up and opened her eyes. Everything was still fuzzy, her head hurt and she couldn't move. "Ben?" She asked weakly.

"Ben's not here." Dr. Doom said.

"What do you want?" She tried to hide the fear in her voice, but wasn't succeeding.

"Don't worry Abby," Doom laughed, "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm going to help you. You see, you have something I want and I have something you want."

"You don't have anything I want."

Doom took a deep breath, _stay calm,_ he warned himself, _if Grimm can with the heart of a snot nosed little brat, then it shouldn't be too hard for me to do the same._ "Let's make a deal."

"No."

Doom laughed, "You haven't even heard me out yet. Just give me a minute to explain. See, you have these amazing powers-"

"I light things on fire." She interrupted, "That's not so amazing."

"See?" He asked, "You don't even think it's amazing, that's a step in the right direction. So, you have these powers that I want and I have the one thing that can set you free."

"I'm fine the way I am." She stated.

"Oh come on Abby," he continued, "Do you really want to be known as a freak for the rest of your life?"

"No!" She shouted, her anger bringing back her strength, "I'm not a freak! Ben said so!"

"What does Ben know?" Doom shouted back, "Of course the biggest freak in the world is going to tell you that!"

"Ben's not a freak!" She screamed back, "You are! Go to hell!"

"Did your mother teach you to talk like that?" He was becoming frustrated.

"No." she frowned, "I learned that from Johnny."

"How about this?" He pulled out a large crystal-like object, "I'll _take_ your powers and then _think _about letting you live."

"Leave me alone!" she screamed.

Doom could have sworn he saw the metal on the cuffs creaking. He tried not to laugh. She was too young to know the full potential of her powers. When her father had refused to join him, he kept a close eye on the family to see if there was some other way he could get that power on his side. He knew Abby could do much more than light fires, fortunately for him, she didn't know that.

"Hold this." He said as he put the crystal on her stomach. He kept his hand on the crystal and it seemed to slowly drain her of her powers and energy, while Doom seemed to become more powerful with every passing second.

Suddenly, there was a huge crashing noise as a wall came tumbling down. "Hey!" Ben's voice bellowed. Doom turned to look.

"Why hello Ben." He said with fake courtesy.

"Don't hello Ben me." Ben scowled.

"What happened to your friends?" Doom asked, "Are you the only one who cares about this poor little girl?"

"That's not true." She whispered.

Ben gave Doom a shove, knocking him away from Abigail, "What did you do to her?"

"I just gave her what she wanted." He laughed as he held his hand up and shot Ben backwards with a burst of fire.

"Where the hell did he learn that?" Johnny asked in shock as he flew in.

_I sure as hell hope Reed got the X-Men._ Ben thought. It was the one thing they were depending on. Ben and Johnny alone would be no match against Doom right now and even with Reed and Susan it would be a struggle. "I think he took Abby's powers." He told Johnny.

"You sick fu-" Johnny started.

"Name calling isn't going to help us." Ben shook his head.

"So," Susan said as she glided in on one of her force fields, "Will some reinforcement help?"

Ben smiled, "Good to see you again Suzy."

Reed came in next and following close behind were Wolverine, Cyclops and Storm. "Alright!" Johnny exclaimed, "Seven against one Doom. Go on and give it your best shot."

Doom just shook his head, _this is all too easy_, he laughed quietly to himself as he shot ice spears at the group. Wolverine jumped forward and slashed the spears into small chunks of ice.

"It looks like your little friend had some tricks up her sleeve that she didn't even know she had." Doom moved towards the group. He held his hand in the air and wind blew through the building, "I think I'm going to like this."

"Sue." Reed whispered. Susan looked at him and noticed he was motioning towards Abigail. She nodded and turned invisible hoping that the rest of the group could keep Doom's attention.

Storm was the next to step up to bat; she tried to counter the winds Doom was creating with some wind and rain of her own.

"Anything you can do we can do better." Johnny said cockily.

Ben rolled his eyes, "So why don't you do something match head?"

"The rain isn't exactly helping." Johnny frowned.

The wind died down and Ben took the opportunity to try and charge Doom. "Ben no!" Reed shouted, "Abby!" He immediately regretted his words. Doom sent a charge of electricity at Ben, knocking him off his feet, then turned towards Abigail. He shot a stream of water at Susan, catching her off guard and making her visible. He tried to hit her with more ice spears, but she protected herself and Abigail with a force field. Cyclops and Johnny fired away while they had the chance.

Ben stayed as low as possible to keep from getting into the crossfire. He grabbed Doom's ankles and pulled until Doom was on the ground. "Reed!" He shouted, "a little help here!"

As Doom tried to get up, Reed wrapped one of his arms around him. "Okay," Wolverine said, "Now what?"

"I can't hold him forever." Reed stated in frustration.

"He's almost unstoppable." Storm said, "What are we going to do with him?"

Ben looked over at Abigail, "She's not okay is she?"

The girl was barely breathing. Susan struggled with the cuffs, "I don't know Ben. I think whatever Doom did drained her."

"We have to fix her." Johnny said.

"What's that?" Reed asked. He pointed to the crystal.

Johnny picked it up and immediately it started to glow, "Whoa! I think you're on to something genius!"

"If that's what Doom used be careful." Ben frowned, "We don't need you losing your powers too."

"I think it works both ways." Johnny smiled. He put the crystal back on Abigail's stomach. She flamed on for a brief moment. When Johnny pulled his hand away from the crystal, she flamed off.

"Great." Ben shouted, "Now you've got nothing!"

"I don't feel any different," Johnny flamed on.

"He didn't completely drain himself." Reed mused, "He just gave her a little bit of his power."

"But she's still not waking up." Susan frowned, "Ben, she needs strength."

"I'm not putting the poor kid through hell." Ben shook his head, "She's got a hard enough time with just fire power."

"Ben!" Susan shouted, "She might die! I think it's worth the risk!"

"Sorry kid," Ben frowned as he touched the crystal with one finger. Once it began to glow, he pulled it away quickly.

Abigail shot up, sending the cuffs flying. She gasped and took in a deep breath. "Where am I?" She looked around and saw the rather large group of super heroes, "What happened?"

"You're okay kid." Ben smiled. She jumped up and ran to him, giving the giant a hug.

Doom continued to struggle and eventually broke free of Reed's grasp. He grabbed the crystal and it began to glow again, "Now," he looked around, "I really can have it all."

"Stealing powers is wrong." Storm stated.

"Yeah," Wolverine grumbled, "It's a pretty low blow."

Ben let go of Abigail, "Stand back kid, we're gonna get your powers back."

Out of nowhere, a flame shot out, knocking the crystal out of Doom's hand, causing it to shatter into a million pieces on the ground.

"Or not." Johnny threw his hands up in the air in disgust.

**A/N: Okay, now we'll probably never know the true extent of Abby's powers. But she at least has her firepower back. As for the ice and the strength...not so much I guess. And whatever else she had. Maybe Doom still has it, maybe not! Where are Abby's mom, sister and grandpa? But, I had to stop here tonight and I'm saving the rest for the weekend. Two powerful bad guys? Seven powerful good guys? Who knows. I'm tired. Had a rough day at work.**


End file.
